In the use of lawn mowers, particularly the use of commercial-type walk-behind or sulky-assisted lawn mowers, there is often the use of one or more (typically two) swivel wheels mounted to the front of the mower. There is a need to allow for selective "locking" of such wheels during operation of the mowers on a slope, particularly a side slope, due to the tendency of such apparatuses to tend to turn down the hill when cutting on a side slope.
Prior art solutions to this problem relate to the use of individual locking mechanism which individually lock such wheels in a "straight-ahead" orientation. However, this requires the operator to leave his conventional cutting position, stop the apparatus, manipulate the locking mechanisms, and only then return to cutting. This can involve the insertion of a locking, pin between the swivel pin and tube assembly; or the use of a snap, lock lever, etc. This tends to be time consuming, inefficient, and in some cases unsafe.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a selectively lockable swivel wheel assembly which allows a lawn mower operator to selectively lock or unlock one or more swivel wheels without leaving his or her operating position